Multiple competing technologies are being pursued as potential candidates for future wireless networks. General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), CDMA 2000, Wireless Local Areas Network (WLAN), HiperLAN and Bluetooth are some of the potential access technologies that are expected to provide potential 2.5G/3G/4G services. The emergence of various access technologies for 2.5G/3G/4G services necessitates the need for some inter-technology handoff method, which can be deployed across heterogeneous networks to support seamless handoff. Mobile/Internet Protocol (IP) is being proposed as “the” technology to enable seamless handoff across different technologies. As a network layer protocol, Mobile/IP is well positioned to solve the inter-working function for heterogeneous wireless networks. However, due to inherent limitations of basic Mobile/IP, it is not considered optimal for real time services.
Thus, there is a need for a method of improved Mobile/IP handoff from one technology to another.